Over 70 food companies and NGOs are urging world leaders to integrate a food systems approach within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the upcoming Cop28.
In an open letter, food brands including Unilever, write that the updated food systems need to look at emissions “beyond agricultural production”, and needs to include “food waste, consumption, biodiversity loss and land use change.”
“Managing competing needs for land and water from energy, food production and biodiversity protection will also be essential to safeguard the carbon capture benefits of our natural resources,” the letter added.
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The firms want a food systems approach integrated within the Sharm el-Sheikh Joint Work on Implementation of Climate Action on Agriculture and Food Security (SSJW), a programme set up at Cop27 last year.
“Taking a food systems approach would at a minimum encompass three key elements: nature-positive food production, healthy sustainable diets and nutrition, and food loss and waste,” the letter stated.
The food brands also advice food system actions to be implemented into national adaptation plans before Cop30 in 2025.
“These actions must be established through inclusive and participatory governance and account for the interfaces between food systems and human rights, gender equality and livelihoods,” the firms wrote in the letter.
“Cop28 is a critical stepping stone in fixing our food systems and safeguarding food and nutrition security for people and humanity,” the letter concluded.
Earlier this week, over 125 businesses including Ikea, BT Group and Nestlé wrote an open letter pushing for an end to the burning of fossil fuels at Cop28.
